I started to look in to the history of the LFO ..as in how it was implimented, who made the best use of it and what kinds of sounds they were able to produce. This also lead me in to the realms of FM and I suddenly found my self reading manuals on TB303 and other quirky pieces of gear like that.
I looked at the way different instruments audio signal paths worked and where and when the LFO had been implemented. A few experiments later and I had a good idea of how certain 'unique' sounds were produced. After a day of two I had figured out how to produce some sounds that bewildered me for years... Sounds you only hear in Aphex Twin albums or big budget sci-fi films.
The typical uses of LFO implementation generally lay in the field of amplitude modulation based effect, that basically covers anything ADSR related, gated effects panning etc. The flip side of this is are the effects that are a result of modulated frequency, where the lfo is driving the pitch of the main oscillator(s) output.
More advanced effects can be produced when the LFO is patched elsewhere, depending on what hardware or software you have at your disposal you may even be able to use your LFO's output from one device to drive another... for example drive your compressor from your synth. ...or modulate the decay on your reverb.
If you have a synthesizer with no LFO but that does have two or more oscilators you may be able to use one of them (but it'd have to be an old synthesizer). And it IS possible to record the output of the LFO however the lfo is not designed for this and the low end tones produced will most likely wreck your sound system.
If your looking for realy unique sounds then I suggest using the LFO to modify the pitch of your main oscilator(s), adjusting the LFO rate to taste starting at highest rate for most dramatic effect.
You will soon notice the sounds being produced quickly enter into the realms of FM and ring-moddy arena.
If you then tie the Amplitude section in (ACO) then you can get some really amazing sounds.
**im in the process of writing this**
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